


butterflies

by whoseao3sthis



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Angst, Battle, Blood and Violence, Cat Noir - Freeform, Co-Written, Comfort, Fanfiction, Fluff, Hurt, Identity Reveal, Ladybug - Freeform, MLB, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, OC villain - Freeform, One Shot, Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug) - Freeform, adrien agreste - Freeform, adrien is a depressed mess, chat noir - Freeform, gi magissa, if you squint there's fluff, kind of lol not really, lots and lots of angst tbh, marinette dupain cheng - Freeform, stressed marinette, tikki (miraculous ladybug) - Freeform, villain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 03:48:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29993421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whoseao3sthis/pseuds/whoseao3sthis
Summary: after a series of akuma attacks, paris’s heroes are left spent and exhausted from hawk moth’s attempts to take their miraculous. the holders of the black cat and ladybug miraculouses have no time to rest as they face their hardest villain yet: gi magissa. cities are destroyed and secrets are revealed, leaving bonds to be formed or broken(co-written with haley_writes_stuff,, yuh i love her)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	butterflies

**Author's Note:**

> not me crying whenever haley asks me to cowrite something with her. also, this bitch (affectionate) is insanely talented?? found out working on this fic with her that she could draw too uhm, what??- anyways stan haley for clear skin & a talent boost :)
> 
> this is my first mlb fic, also the first piece of writing i’ve ever really put action into, so i hope it’s good

“…bystanders have not been hurt, although paris’ superheroes have not made an appearance yet…”

there was unrest among the students of francoise dupont high school as adrien listened to his friends talk quietly amongst one another. thunder rumbled in the distance as heavy, chilling rain poured down from the skies. there was a gloomy eeriness that clung to the air, a quiet that made the high schoolers feel like they were just waiting for something to shatter the silence. grey clouds were collecting, casting the city in shadow-like darkness.

another akuma attack had been reported yet again. the parisian superheroes were more than glad to help out, but it was obvious they were tiring: their moves became sloppier, their conversations shorter, and their patience thinner.

adrien listened to the chatter exchanged between alya and nino, while marinette remained quiet. she looked tired, which really wasn’t that uncommon, but her fatigue seemed to spill into all of her activities. she had less “pep in her step,” as alya had said, and her eyes weren’t nearly as bright as they used to be. not that he meant to pay attention to such things, of course, but it was hard to not notice. even chloe, who couldn’t give a rat’s ass about anyone but herself, had laid off on the harassment. adrien chalked up his attentiveness to marinette as nothing more than being a good, concerned friend, but as of late that excuse was becoming harder to sell, even to himself.

it started about four months ago when they came back from summer break. everyone had gone back to school and while adrien was physically there, he was mentally absent. kagami had just gone abroad for school again after they’d broken things off. he would have liked to say it was a mutual breakup, but she was the one who brought it up. kagami was wise beyond her years so when she told him that his heart wasn’t in the relationship, he knew she was right. he expected his first heartbreak to be gut-wrenching, but it wasn’t. he felt sad, sure, but not in the way that leaves you paralyzed in bed for weeks on end. at the time, he wondered why that was, but the answer was obvious: marinette.

when he got to school, it was almost as if she could see the gloomy cloud over his head. she was there for him when no one else seemed to notice, her stuttering and fumbling hardly present in their conversation. in the beginning, he felt almost guilty for confiding in her. it would’ve been ignorant of him to believe she didn’t have problems of her own (who didn’t?), but it was a fact known by many that marinette dupain-chang was one to do whatever she could to help the people she cared for.

it was then that he noticed it: the butterflies. it was like a tsunami of anxiety, excitement, and shyness all rolled into one whenever she did anything: the way her hair moved in the breeze, her clear laugh that dared him to smile, but most of all, her kindness. marinette was one of those people that you couldn’t hate. she was that person who helped others even when no one was looking. he didn’t want to, but he couldn’t help himself when he started falling for her every move.

she didn’t know, probably never would, but she had him whipped.

the blonde was snapped back into reality when his best friend nudged him: “you coming?” nino’s brow arched in question.

he looked across the street, where his bodyguard was waiting for him, standing by the driver’s side door of the sleek black audi. though it’s been the same car since adrien was like thirteen, it still looked brand new.

“i forgot my homework,” he said to nino, calling out to his bodyguard to repeat the same thing. with a barely discernible nod of approval from the bodyguard, adrien turned back toward the school doors.

adrien grumbled as he jogged away from his friend group: “well, _nadia_ , paris’ superheroes happen to have vaguely normal lives too if you weren’t aware.”

plagg floated up from adrien’s pant pocket and did circles around his owner’s head. “you put too much faith in humans, they don’t think about that kinda stuff. to them, you and ladybug are untouchable.”

“yeah, well we’re not,” he mumbled frustratedly. he pressed his palms into his eyes tiredly and took a deep breath before dropping his arms back down to his sides.

“plagg, claws out,” he muttered.

plagg liked to think he knew his miraculous holder quite well. despite the kwami’s demeanour and seeming distaste toward anything non-cheese related, he did have feelings. yes, he loved cheese, but he also loved adrien. he had spent the last two years with adrien, and he knew something was terribly wrong with his owner.

he’d ask later. the cat-like kwami entered the ring miraculous, and with that, adrien agreste was gone, replaced by chat noir.

the leather-clad hero headed toward the disaster zone, the rain not doing anything to help his vision. he landed on a rooftop near the akuma attack and swiftly surveyed the scene. upon not seeing ladybug anywhere, chat noir sent a quick message to ladybug, highlighting the damage, before swooping in to hold off the akuma.

xXx

to put it simply, marinette was struggling. it had been the fifth akuma attack that week and after two years of being ladybug, her excuses were becoming weaker and weaker as time went on. adrien’s abrupt exit was odd, but she didn’t have time to think about it as she felt the ground shake slightly. it didn’t matter how exhausted she was, she couldn’t put off her duties any longer.

“i uhm, i forgot i had a question for miss bustier. i’m going to go see if she’s still around and i’ll uh just stay here until ladybug and chat noir get everything taken care of!” she flashed her friends a thumbs up and with that, she ran back inside the school, toward the locker room. she opened her tiny purse in order for tikki to emerge. “this is bullshit,” she muttered to herself.

tikki gasped in shock. “marinette!”

“sorry,” she mumbled half-heartedly, “you wouldn’t happen to care if i maybe just happened to not show up and let chat handle it?”

the glare that the small kwami sent her way told her otherwise. “something about this one tells me that you’ll need all the help you can get,” she told her owner.

her stomach twisted with anxiety, both confusion and shock washing over her face. tikki had never talked about the dangers of an akuma before, which alarmed marinette. shit.

“tikki, spots on.”

ladybug swung with all her might as her trusty yoyo grabbed onto buildings and chimneys, the sounds of destruction nearing. a black blur, undoubtedly chat, streaked the cloudy, grey sky as an akumatized villain screeched out. her eyes skimmed over the cobblestone streets in front of her, but nothing could prepare her for the screams of terror and bloodied civilians that scattered the scene below.

her feet had only touched down on the ground for a second when she heard him.

“nice of you to drop in,” chat purred, startling her. “you’re late,” he added, his voice icier than expected.

“cry about it,” ladybug responded coldly.

“meowch m’lady,” he said in mock hurt.

“sorry,” she muttered to her partner as she took him in. his blonde silky hair was plastered to his head from the pouring rain, the droplets permeating the black leather. if the suit wasn’t skin-tight before, it certainly was now. she had to tear her eyes away from the sight of him, her sensibility screaming at her to focus while her eyes wanted nothing more than to drink in every inch of him.

 _literally what the fuck_ , she said to herself. now was no time to pine for her partner.

the akuma that stood before her was physically underwhelming in stature, but her clothing made up for it. the girl in front of them held herself at around 5’3 and couldn’t be more than 18, but her wicked smirk sent a chill through her spine. the girl was clad in an array of green from forest, sage, to mossy shades, the dress that adorned her body looking like that straight from greek mythology. it was made up of grand silks, almost entrancing ladybug and chat with the way that the fabric moved like rippling water. it was ethereal, really, but the closer she looked at it the deadlier it became.

from around the waist and shoulders, long strips of silk floated behind her like the snakes on the head of medusa. they almost seemed to bend to her will, the fabric defying gravity. not only were pieces of the dress floating, but so was her long dark hair. in her hand was a staff made from tree trunk like material. resting atop her head was an obsidian black crown with spikes the length of ladybug’s hand.

after looking around at the already distraught state of the street, their evaluation was over: she was not going to be another walk in the park.

“shit,” chat breathed out. it was at that moment that the villain opened her mouth to address both the heroes and bystanders.

“citizens of paris, i am gi mágissa. i am not here to compromise with your heroes. others in the past have failed to retrieve what hawk moth desires, but i will not: today will be the day that you remember as the fall of ladybug and chat noir.” her voice resonated as if it was echoing off the walls. she shifted her gaze to the left, her eyes locking with the two of them.

“give me your miraculous and i may decide to spare you and your city,” she said in a dangerously low voice. her voice was smooth, yet it cut right through the two partners like a freezing wind in the dead of winter. under any other circumstances, her words would be humorous, cheesy even, but this was not like anything else they faced.

chat laughed as his trademarked smirk appeared. “funny, because i don’t remember agreeing to that,” he said in mock thoughtfulness, almost like he was trying to recall a memory.

“chat,” ladybug hissed, “i’m starting to get the feeling that you won’t be able to joke your way out of this one,”

“c’mon m’lady, live a little.”

“yeah, well i might not be alive to do so if you keep being an idiot.” ladybug could feel the frustration rising in her as chat continued to appear so casual and relaxed. how could he not sense that this was so much worse than before?

chat turned to her and she could finally see his eyes. despite his outward appearance, she saw the nervousness in his gaze. there was almost a buzz in the air, a metallic smell that made them wrinkle their noses: blood, iron maybe.

“fine. let’s get this over with.”


End file.
